eCourtsIndia
IndiaCode Laws
Section187
The Indian Penal Code, 1860

Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance

Repealed From 01 Jan 1862 Act 45 of 1860 As on 14 Oct 2026

Act 45 of 1860 Ministry Home Affairs Enacted 06 Oct 1860 In force 01 Jan 1862 Cited by 8 provisions

This provision is repealed. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024. It is reproduced because conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance. Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1862. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both;

and if such assistance be demanded of him by a public servant legally competent to make such demand for the purposes of executing any process lawfully issued by a Court of Justice, or of preventing the commission of an offence, or suppressing a riot, or affray, or of apprehending a person charged with or guilty of an offence, or of having escaped from lawful custody, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

Section 187, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).

Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

BNS 222 Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance Text carried over almost unchanged 98%

Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.

Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Referred to by 8

  1. Census Act s. 6 Discharge of duties of census-officers in certain cases
  2. Code of Criminal Procedure s. 100 Persons in charge of closed place to allow search
  3. Code of Criminal Procedure Act s. 100 Persons in charge of closed place to allow search
  4. Code of Criminal Procedure s. 100 Persons in charge of closed place to allow search
  5. Crpc 1973 s. 100 Persons in charge of closed place to allow search
  6. Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property During Disturbance to Public Order Act, 2021 (11 of 2021) s. 19
  7. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act s. 15 Search without warrant
  8. Punjab Excise Act, 1914(Bare Act ) s. 185 Joining of independent witness must

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. The State of Maharashtra vs Arshad Khan Pathan

    High Court 06 Jan 2016 Persuasive (Other High Court)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    Criminal process cannot be issued under Sections 174 and 187 IPC against a public servant for non-attendance at a meeting when: (1) the complainant has violated mandatory notice requirements prescribed in applicable circulars; (2) the accused employee is subject to service regulations of his own employer requiring prior permission to leave office; and (3) the notice given (telephonic message) is insufficient to comply with both the notice requirements and the employee's employer regulations. The complainant's own procedural violations negate the criminal liability of the accused.

    On this section: Relates to omission to comply with an order duly promulgated by a public servant. The court found this section was not attracted because no valid order was issued with proper notice.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. High Court 19 Aug 2021 HPHC010018162019

    … you have not published the matter given to you and furnish false reports and mis-guided the court as well as did not file the reply of show cause notice and intentionally omitted to give such assistance to the public servant in execution of his public duty and thereby you have committed an offence punishable under Section 187 of Indian Penal Code and within the cognizance of this Court. Certified that the contents of the above said notice have been read over and explained to the accused in Hindi. > -sd- (Akanksha Dogra) Judicial Magistrate First Class Dharamshala, District Kangra, H.P." 4. Challenging the said notice of …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Questions about Section 187

What have the courts held on Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code?

The State of Maharashtra vs Arshad Khan Pathan (06 Jan 2016) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Relates to omission to comply with an order duly promulgated by a public servant. The court found this section was not attracted because no valid order was issued with proper notice.

How do I find court cases under Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: IPC 187, section 187 IPC, section 187 of the Indian Penal Code. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with The State of Maharashtra vs Arshad Khan Pathan (06 Jan 2016).

What should I read with Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?

8 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 222 (Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.

When did Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?

Section 187 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 187, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.